


Amnesia

by justagirlinabookworld



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 13:21:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6612223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justagirlinabookworld/pseuds/justagirlinabookworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason Grace lived his entire life alone, separating himself. Content. Happy, even. It wasn’t until he met Piper McLean that his whole world came crashing down around him, burning in her fire.<br/>Piper McLean lived her entire life surrounded by people, yet utterly alone. Hopeless. Terrified. It wasn’t until she met Jason Grace that she found someone worth living for, someone worth remembering.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Amnesia

He hadn’t ever let himself love or be loved. And that was the problem, wasn’t it? Because the crush he had on Piper wasn’t little, it wasn’t small.

His mom had lost his memory after he was born. When he was four, his big sister was in an accident that left her with short-term amnesia. She knew who he was, but didn’t really know him. His mom had miraculously regained her memory after that, but it was never the same. It wasn’t until his first girlfriend just stopped talking to him, stopped acknowledging him, that he knew the truth. At least, he knew a part of it.

Every girl Jason loved ended up getting hurt. And he wasn’t willing to risk it with anyone else, least of all with Piper. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

So meeting Piper at his dorm, where he had finally expected to get over his crush and move on? Not a part of Jason’s plan for his ideal first college experience. Yet there he found himself, kicking hard to keep his head above the water, but somehow still floundering, trying to figure out how not to be loved.

It was a Sunday before the first day of classes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Oh!” Jason stumbles back from the corner, scrambling to pick up his books from the floor. A pair of dark hands with a haphazard manicure reach down to help him, picking up his History textbook.

“I am so sorry,” the girl gushes, her voice melodic and sweet. Jason’s blood freezes, his eyes pulling themselves up to meet the chocolatey brown of Piper’s. “Here,” she continues, offering him his book. “I wasn’t watching where I was going. Again, I’m really sorry.”

She smiles when he meets her eyes, a bright, glowing twinkle that Jason spent years trying to ignore. He rushes to gather his things from her hands when she glances pointedly down at his book, then he sputters for something to say.

“I’m Piper,” she offers, her grin growing by the second.

“Oh,” he responds. “Um, yeah. We went to high school together. AHS. I’m Jason.”

Piper makes a face, struggling to remember him. Jason takes a few steps back, appalled with himself, but heaves a sigh of relief when Piper’s features clear with recognition.

“Oh! Yeah! Jason Grace. We were in physics together senior year, right?”

Jason nods shyly, smiling at her. When the silence becomes too much, Jason waves goodbye and turns to his dorm. Praying he wouldn’t have to see her again. Knowing he would.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That was the first time he had a real conversation with Piper McLean. And it wasn’t the last.

The two had experienced more “accidental” meetings since that day than Jason was willing to admit. After that, they figured out they had a Monday class together. Then that they had the same coffee interest. And that their dorms were right across from one another.

Jason and Piper spent months getting to know each other, the tension building between them, but Jason was never willing to allow them to even hug. Piper didn’t understand, but as far as Jason was concerned, his only priority was keeping her as far away as possible. She was weird, though. No matter how many times Jason recoiled after she forgot something about him, no matter how many times Jason told her he just wanted to be friends, no matter how hard he pushed, she just kept coming back to him.

And Jason was afraid he wouldn’t be able to hide for much longer.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He wakes up early one Saturday morning, intent on going for a run at the crack of dawn, when he’s sure no one else is crazy enough to be awake either. He sneaks out of his dorm without waking Percy, his roommate, and sits on the steps of their building to tie his shoes. A pair of hands covers his eyes just as he’s about to stand up, and Jason flinches, cursing his bad luck.

“Guess who.” He recognizes the voice—how could he not? —but he plays along with it.

“I thought you were still asleep, Percy!”

“Nope.”

“Oh. George Washington?”

“I’m too cute for that.”

“Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry.”

“Almost, but not quite.”

“Aphrodite, the goddess of love.” He can’t help himself. Being with Piper is like a drug, and if he can’t have the real thing, just the idea of it is the next best option. Flirting with her is a rare occurrence, but something even he can’t make himself stop sometimes.

“Ding ding ding! Not perfect, but pretty close.” Piper takes her hands off his eyes and sits down next to him. Jason’s heart drops when he sees her wearing Nike shorts and a big t-shirt, but he refuses to admit that it’s for more reason than fear she’d want to join him on his run. She wraps her arm around his waist and scoots closer; Jason tenses.

“Piper…”

She rolls her eyes. “Relax. It’s just cold out, is all.” She shivers for effect, but Jason doesn’t buy it. He forces himself to stand up, and her arm falls; the look of sadness and disappointment on her face is almost enough to make him sit back down. He covers it up with a few stretching exercises, but he doesn’t think she buys his act either.

“Well I was just about to go to the store,” she says, her voice forcibly light, “But it looks like you were going for a run. Can I join you?”

Knowing he can’t push her away twice in a row, Jason offers a small smile. “Always.”

They set off at a familiar pace, a comfortable silence encasing them until Piper breaks it. “So, what made you change your usual running time? We normally go together.”

Jason doesn’t miss the slight accusatory tone in her voice, but chooses to take it as plain curiosity. “No reason. I figured I’d try an earlier time and see what it was like. I was gonna ask you about joining me if I thought it was nicer out now than our normal time.”

If she notices his lie, she doesn’t say anything; she does knock their elbows together, though, and Jason thinks for what must be the thousandth time that he is so, completely, utterly, totally screwed.

And not in the fun way.


End file.
